BAE wins £2.5 bln contract with Oman

Friday, December 21, 2012 - 01:13

Dec. 21 - British defence firm BAE has won a contract with the Omani government to sell them 20 aircraft, as UK Prime Minister David Cameron emphasises that Britain needs to manufacture more. Joel Flynn report.

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It's a deal they needed.
BAE have secured a £2.5 billion contract with the Omani government.
They're set to sell 12 Typhoon and eight Hawk aircraft to the Gulf state.
British Prime Minister David Cameron paid a visit as the deal was announced.
SOUNDBITE: UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, saying (English):
"Britain and Oman have a very strong relationship, but this is an extremely important deal. Twelve Typhoon aircraft, eigh Hawk aircraft -- these support thousands of jobs in the UK and they're high tech, high skilled, manufacturing, engingeering, technology jobs. We need to do more of that. We need to export more, we need to make more."
It's the first major deal for BAE since its proposed merger with EADS collapsed in October.
The Franco-German maker of Airbus was looking to combine with BAE in a deal worth £28 billion.
The Omani deal comes days after BAE warned of a delay in agreeing a contract for 72 aircraft with Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi deal is reportedly worth £4.5 billion.
Whilst the Omani sale is good news, failure to secure the Saudi contract in the next two months will hit BAE's 2012 earnings.

French President Emmanuel Macron heads into the summer break faced with falling popularity ratings after tough debates in parliament over labour reform and a public ethics law, a standoff with the military and cuts to housing assistance

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